Gautier claims Tour du Finistère

Cyril Gautier of Europcar finally put an end to a three-year drought as he outsprinted Vacansoleil-DCM's Frederik Veuchelen in the rain-soaked Tour du Finistère. The 2010 Route Adélie was his last victory. Following his 2008 U23 European title, Gautier carried a lot of expectations, but evolved mostly into a domestique for Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland, a role he'll embrace again next week at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

"I know how to work for the others," Gautier said. "It's been too long since I last won a race myself. I'm not a slacker. I always give everything to the team and I hurt myself in training, but when you get in a downward spiral, it's very difficult to get the confidence back. Since I came back from Malaysia in early March, I've been hit by different sicknesses: food poisoning, bronchitis, a cold last week, but on Wednesday at Paris-Camembert, I realized the good form was back, so I was motivated today."

Europcar was represented in the early breakaway by Perrig Quéméneur alongside Armindo Fonseca and Florian Guillou (Bretagne - Séché), Romain Hardy and Rudy Molard (Cofidis), Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil), Javier Aramendia (Caja Rural), Patrick Facchini (Androni), Yves Lampaert (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise), Sébastien Reichenbach and Patrick Schelling (IAM Cycling), Ignatas Konovalovas (MTN - Qhubeka), Julian Alaphilippe and Petr Vakoc (Etixx-Inhed).

As they got reined in when the race headed back south towards Quimper, a headwind was coupled with the rainy conditions, and another group went away with 40km to go with Anthony Geslin and Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ), Christophe Le Mével (Cofidis), Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen), Rémi Cusin (IAM), Florian Sénéchal (Etixx-Ihned), Veuchelen and Gautier.

"I've managed to remain calm for once," Gautier explained. "I waited for the last lap to attack and when I realized that Veuchelen was coming across, I slowed down and I positioned myself behind for the sprint that I launched with 250 metres to go. It was hard. But the bad weather conditions were the same for everyone. Unfortunately, we're used to it by now."

Gautier, being a Breton, scored his second pro win on home soil like the first one. "It's even better to win in Brittany," he said. "I'm proud of where I'm from. I expect more for myself in the future but I'll go to the Giro del Trentino now and I'll be a domestique again in one week for either Voeckler or Rolland at Liège-Bastogne-Liège."

 

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar4:42:20
2Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling TeamRow 1 - Cell 2
3Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ0:00:03
4Remi Cusin (Fra) IAM Cycling0:00:08
5Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ0:00:13
6Florian Senechal (Fra) ETixx-IHNED0:00:15
7Tim Declercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise0:00:22
8Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits0:00:38
9Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ0:02:18
10Yannick Martinez (Fra) La Pomme Marseille0:02:22
11Loic Desriac (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole0:02:24
12Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Sojasun0:02:33
13Julien Simon (Fra) Sojasun0:02:38
14Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM CyclingRow 13 - Cell 2
15Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R La MondialeRow 14 - Cell 2
16Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditsRow 15 - Cell 2
17Fabricio Ferrari (Uru) Caja RuralRow 16 - Cell 2
18Jacobus Venter (RSA) MTN-QhubekaRow 17 - Cell 2
19Yannick Talabardon (Fra) SojasunRow 18 - Cell 2
20Stijn Neirynck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-BaloiseRow 19 - Cell 2
21Dimitri Le Boulch (Fra) BigMat-Auber 93Row 20 - Cell 2
22Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team0:02:41
23Sébastien Minard (Fra) Ag2R La MondialeRow 22 - Cell 2
24Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Caja RuralRow 23 - Cell 2
25Patrick Schelling (Swi) IAM Cycling0:02:45
26Yoann Paillot (Fra) La Pomme Marseille0:02:47
27Natnael Berhane (Eri) Team EuropcarRow 26 - Cell 2
28Morgan Kneisky (Fra) Roubaix Lille MetropoleRow 27 - Cell 2
29Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement0:02:52
30Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli0:03:00
31Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement0:03:02
32Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ0:03:07
33Omar Bertazzo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli0:03:08
34Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ0:03:26
35Anthony Charteau (Fra) Team Europcar0:03:32
36Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar0:03:39
37Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) ETixx-IHNED0:04:34
38Petr Vakoc (Cze) ETixx-IHNED0:04:51
39Matteo Di Serafino (Ita) Androni Giocattoli0:04:53
40Marcel Aregger (Swi) IAM CyclingRow 39 - Cell 2
41Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits0:05:26
42Willem Wauters (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling TeamRow 41 - Cell 2
43Arnaud Gérard (Fra) Bretagne-Seche EnvironnementRow 42 - Cell 2
44Matthias Friedemann (Ger) Champion System Pro Cycling TeamRow 43 - Cell 2
45Martin Reimer (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka0:05:30
46Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar0:05:55
47Mathieu Drujon (Fra) BigMat-Auber 930:08:50
48Julien Duval (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole0:08:51
49Sébastien Hinault (Fra) IAM CyclingRow 48 - Cell 2
50Martin Wesemann (RSA) MTN-QhubekaRow 49 - Cell 2
51Théo Vimpere (Fra) BigMat-Auber 930:08:58
52Karel Hnik (Cze) ETixx-IHNED0:09:55
53Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne-Seche EnvironnementRow 52 - Cell 2

 

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